Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
On the Necessity and Impossibility of Being a Jew
Not seldom, when in conversation my partner draws me into a plural—that is, as soon as he includes my person in whatever connection and says to me: “We Jews . . .”—I feel a not exactly tormenting, but…
This One’s On Me
1. The lives and times of Oedipus and Elektra
began with bloodgrim lust and dark carnality
but I was born next to the Neilson’s factory
where every piece is different, and that’s how I got
my…
Farewell, You Cheerful Folk of France
Farewell, you cheerful folk of France,
My brethren’s merry throng,
A foolish nostalgia drives me hence,
I’ll be back, though, before long.
Imagine—I yearn beyond belief
For the smell of heather and…
Jude
Cherkassky’s gold Star of David with the word “Jude” in its center was displayed in Collectio Judaica at the Rosenfeld Gallery in 2003. It was the artist’s first major solo exhibition. The theme of…
Human Follies: For Sukkot
Human follies, silver and gold and possessions,
Last only shortly on earth, and like flies, they fly away.
Wealth flowers like abundant grain, or like a tree’s boughs,
It bears recognizable fruit…
Discursos predicables y avisos espirituales (Preaching Discourses and Spiritual Advice)
God created man so that man might know His majesty, which is the highest good: knowing Him, being able to love Him, and loving Him, being able to possess…
Bliss
We shall live in the shade of the graceful doe and, living there, shall be sustained. We shall walk through darkness by her light, with never-ending joy. When she laughs, we will burst into song; when…
Her Eyes
The girl’s eyes are the heavens of love, a robe of light and splendour in which she clothes herself. Even when they are hidden by clouds of tears, lovers, do not be afraid to come near. Do not fear…
Couplets of Joseph the Righteous
“It is only because the Lord was with us,”
says the old Israel;
in You lies holiness,
Israel’s praises.
“It is only because the Lord was with us,”
You elevated us above other men,
You saved us from…
Tourists
So condolence visits is what they’re here for,sitting around at the Holocaust Memorial, putting on a serious faceat the Wailing Wall,laughing behind heavy curtains in hotel rooms.They get themselves…
The Converts
On the holiest day we fast till sundown.
I watch the sun stand still
as the horizon edges towards it. Four hours to go.
The rabbi’s mouth opens and closes and opens.
I think: fish
and little steaming…
Traveling and Passing
Traveling and returning. In the
Dirt paths of her forehead
Railroad trains anchor, yellow
Carriages locomotive flowers
In the fields of liberated Europe
Traveling and returning. In the shadows
Betw…